1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a door of a drum washing machine, and more particularly, to a drum washing machine having a foldable door, which can be folded when opening the door, and which can also be utilized as a laundry holder when the foldable door is opened
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, for example, a conventional drum washing machine is illustrated which includes a cabinet 1, in which a tub and a drum are installed extending horizontally. An opening 3 is formed in a front wall of the cabinet 1 to communicate with the tub and drum. A related art door 5 is mounted to the cabinet 1 to open and close the opening 3.
The door 5 is hingably mounted, at one side thereof, to a portion of the cabinet 1 corresponding to one side of the opening 3 by a hinge mechanism 7. A handle (not shown) is provided at the other side of the door 5. In accordance with this structure, the door 5 is hingably movable when the user pulls the handle to open the opening 3 or pushes the handle to close the opening 3.
The door 5 includes an annular door rim 5a, and a door window 5b surrounded by the annular door rim 5a. The door window 5b is made of a transparent glass material, and has a convex structure protruding into the interior of the washing machine to come into contact with a gasket 9 mounted in the cabinet 1.
However, the above-mentioned conventional drum washing machine has a deficiency because the door 5 cannot be fully opened where the washing machine 1 is close to a wall W, as shown in FIG. 2, for example, because the door 5 is horizontally hingably opened. When the door 5 is partially opened, the convex door window 5b is positioned toward the opening 3, so that there may be an inconvenience because the convex door window 5b may interfere with laundry when the laundry is put into or removed from the washing machine 1 through the opening 3.
After completion of a laundry washing cycle, the user typically removes the laundry from the washing machine. In the process of removing the laundry from the washing machine, however, the user may drop the laundry to the floor because the laundry is in an entangled condition. Such a situation occurs frequently. In that case, there is an inconvenience because the dropped laundry must be washed again.
Also, the user typically takes the laundry, one item at a time, out of the washing machine, and shakes the laundry to separate foreign matter, such as lint or the like, which often clings to the laundry. After shaking one item of laundry, the user typically puts it into an additional laundry container (such as a separate laundry basket having no particular connection to the conventional washing machine, for example), and then shakes another item of laundry. The necessity of using the additional laundry container may cause inconvenience to the user when taking the laundry out of the washing machine, for example.